#3 - An Insidious Evil
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There is an insidious evil that has taken root in the practice of Christianity today. It is exemplified by this attitude:
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“God has shown me that I need to (insert specific belief or action here).”
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That alone isn’t wrong. Everyone should have the freedom to practice their own belief system as they see fit.
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The problem arises when this attitude moves to the next step, and that is:
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“therefore you have to do it too.”
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There is nothing in the Bible that tells us we are supposed to force others to believe or act as we do.
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That is a practice that leads to all manner of evil and will inevitably lead to the expectation that everyone must adhere to one religion. This leads to a state religion, and that will inevitably lead to an inquisition against all other forms of faith.
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Mar 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
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In this passage, notice that Jesus told us to “go” and to “preach.”
He did not say “pass laws,” or “ban books,” or “post the 10 commandments on schoolroom walls.”
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Jesus did not force people to follow Him. He just lived His life and asked people to follow Him.
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All those people, from the 12 disciples to the small children saw His love and were drawn to follow Him.
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That is what we are called to do. God wants us to be vessels of His love and let His love flow through us to the world around us.
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If we allow Him to do that through us, then His life and love will draw others to Himself without forcing or commanding others to do as we see fit.
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The second major problem with requiring others to adhere to our own standards of belief and behavior is that we are making ourselves to be the standard of measure and not Jesus Himself.
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We would not be pointing people to Him, but we would be pointing to ourselves as the standard of belief and behavior.
We would be saying, “this is what I do, so you have to do it too.”
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In essence, we would be putting ourselves in the place that only God holds.
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We would be saying that we are like God, so follow us.
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Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
Gen 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Gen 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die."
Gen 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
Gen 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
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This second passage amplifies the significance of the statement that “you will be like God.”
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Isa 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
Isa 14:13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'
Isa 14:15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
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There is a common thread in these two passages. In the first, Lucifer/Satan is telling Eve that if they eat of the tree of life, they would “be like God.”
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In the second passage, Lucifer is saying to himself that he will “be like the Most High (God).”
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This is the “original sin,” to make ourselves “like God.” Therefore, making ourselves and our beliefs and behaviors the standard of behavior that all people must follow is doing the same thing, placing ourselves in the place that only God Himself can hold.
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We would be telling others that we are “like the Most High.”
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​​Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.
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O Lord, may your mercy, your grace, and your presence in our lives deliver us from this attitude that actually chases people away from you instead of drawing them to you.
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Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.